


paranoia

by scribbleface



Series: HSMTMTS [9]
Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: ALSO REDKY RIGHTS!!, F/F, First Kiss, GINI RIGHTS!!, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, they play paranoia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:15:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22417588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribbleface/pseuds/scribbleface
Summary: The slipper landed face down and Gina felt the need to run and never look back. “What was the question?” Nini asked softly, leaning forward slightly as she locked eyes with Gina.Gina opened their mouth before closing it again, looking like a fish out of water. After a bit of incoherent noises, Seb put a hand on their arm, shooting them a worried look. Gina merely pursed their lips and nodded at Seb. “I asked them to name someone they want to kiss.”
Relationships: Nini Salazar-Roberts/Gina Porter, ricky bowen/big red
Series: HSMTMTS [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1548121
Comments: 2
Kudos: 65





	paranoia

Nini, Gina, Red, Ricky, EJ, Kourtney, Ashlyn, Carlos, and Seb sat in a circle, their excited chatter mixed with the music playing from Red’s small speaker that rested on the table beside them. They were currently in Red’s basement, hanging out for the first official night of summer break, a night they had been planning since the cast party at Ashlyn’s house. 

Even as so much changed amongst the group, they still found themselves anticipating this night all the same. Ricky and Nini had never truly gotten back together, staying friends and deciding that was best for them in the long run. Nini had taken the spot offered to her at the Youth Actor’s Conservatory and even as she made new friends, she was adamant to stay in touch with those at East High. Red and Ricky seemed to get closer; though they’d never admit it, their friends noticed the lingering glances and the way they seemed a bit more affectionate with one another. They’d figure themselves out eventually. 

Other than that, there had been some things Nini hadn’t missed. Kourtney, Gina and Seb got leads in the spring musical and Red proudly worked the soundboard and lights without anyone’s help. Carlos had even auditioned and got a notable role, something he hadn’t expected. Nini flew in to see them, bringing them all cards and gifts and cheering the loudest when they did their bows. She couldn’t be prouder of her friends.

Now, as the group sat there in Red’s basement, it had seemed like nothing had changed. It was nice—familiar, even—until Ricky pulled out a slipper.

“Uh, okay. What’s that for?” EJ asked, raising a brow with a lopsided grin. 

“We’re playing Paranoia!” 

Ricky shot Red a look when he was met with confused glances, soft murmurs of ‘What?’ and ‘What’s that?’ coming from the others. 

“Basically, we go in a circle and whisper a question to the person to our left—I ask Ashlyn, Ashlyn asks Red, Red asks Seb, Seb asks Gina, Gina asks Kourtney, Kourtney asks EJ, EJ asks Carlos, Carlos asks Nini, and Nini asks me—the question is whispered so only the person being asked can hear but they have to answer out loud, which is why it’s called Paranoia!” Ricky grinned, flipping the slipper in his hand for a bit of emphasis. “Then, after they give their answer, we throw the slipper up. If it lands upright, we just continue the game, if it lands face down, the group gets to know the question.”

Seb and EJ looked a bit confused but other than that, everyone else seemed to get it. “You’ll see as we go along.” Red said to the two boys with a wave of his hand, reaching over Ashlyn to try and get the slipper from his friend to no avail. 

“I’m going first.” Ricky said with a smirk, leaning over to Ashlyn and whispering something to her that made the girl blush softly. 

“Uh, can I give two answers?” She asked softly, chewing on her lip. This seemed to pique everyone’s interest. Ricky nodded and Ashlyn let out a breath. “Bianca or Kourtney.”

Kourtney raised a brow, looking intently from Ashlyn to the slipper as Ricky threw it up in the air, only for it to land upright. Ashlyn let out a sigh of relief before taking a moment to think of a question for Red. Her eyes lit up and she leaned over, her question causing Red to laugh softly. “Definitely Ricky.” He replied, causing Ricky to shoot him a questioning look. Ricky said nothing, passing the slipper to Ashlyn and grinning as it landed face down. 

“I asked him who here would be most likely to cry because of a dumb romcom.” Ashlyn chuckled.

“Hey!” Ricky reached over, gesturing for Ashlyn to move as he blindly reached for Red, failing his arm in the other boy’s direction. 

“He’s right, Ricky.” Nini giggled. “You literally cried over 13 Going On 30.”

Ricky went red and hid his face in his hands. “It’s a good movie!”

“Dude, it’s okay. I cried over The Wedding Date.” EJ admitted with a small smile. 

Ricky shot him a lopsided smile before the game started up once again. Red leaned over to Seb, going through the same routine again. Seb seemed to think for a moment before answering, “Oh, Kourtney!” with an excited smile. 

The slipper was flipped and landed upright, leaning the answer without a question. 

Seb pursed his lips and drummed his fingers against the floor before a mischievous smile formed on his face. He leaned over, whispered something to Gina that made them go wide eyed and stare at him. He merely stared back expectantly, biting his lip to hide his grin when Gina took a breath and replied, “Nini, definitely Nini.”

For some reason, this caused the others to go silent, glancing from eachother to Gina in a way that made both Nini and Gina antsy. Seb cleared his throat and picked up the slipper, throwing it up in the air. To Gina, it seemed like time slowed down immensely. They could only pray to whatever god was above that the slipper would land upright.

As much as they asked, it seemed no one was on their side. The slipper landed face down and Gina felt the need to run and never look back. “What was the question?” Nini asked softly, leaning forward slightly as she locked eyes with Gina. 

Gina opened their mouth before closing it again, looking like a fish out of water. After a bit of incoherent noises, Seb put a hand on their arm, shooting them a worried look. Gina merely pursed their lips and nodded at Seb. “I asked them to name someone they want to kiss.” 

A chorus of ‘Oooh’s!” rang out amongst the group but Gina tuned it all out, instead choosing to stare at Nini who was now looking anywhere but at them, her cheeks flushed. They couldn’t ignore the pit in their stomach, finally being brought back to reality when Carlos waved his hand in front of Gina’s face and said, “Gi, you’re turn!” with a wide grin as if the previous events didn’t happen. “Gina?” He asked, his brows suddenly creased with worry. The others quieted down, their eyes flitting over to Gina which only made them feel worse. Nini still wasn’t looking at them. 

“I’ll be right back.” They blurted out before hurrying off to the kitchen, leaving the rest of the group in an awkward silence. 

“I’ll go check on them.” Ricky said, causing Nini’s head to snap up. She knew she should be the one to go check on them, to talk to them and reassure that everything was okay but she couldn’t bring herself to move. She was scared of where exactly that conversation would go if it actually started.

Ricky slowly went up the stairs and into Red’s kitchen, biting his lip at the sight of Gina who was sitting atop the counter, their eyes closed and their hands gripping the granite top tightly. “Gina?” He called softly, shooting them an apologetic smile when they opened their eyes. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Gina huffed, finally opening their eyes. “I just wanted to get something to drink.” 

Ricky obviously didn’t believe them. “Okay, but what’s really wrong?”

“Did you see what happened when she realized I wanted to kiss her?” Gina asked, her voice shaky. “She couldn’t even look at me!” They exclaimed in disbelief, bringing their hands into their lap as they let out a laugh. “I should’ve lied.”

“I think it’s good that you told the truth.”

“Yeah? Try saying that to yourself when you have to tell Red you wanna kiss him.” Gina said in a hushed tone as the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs cut their conversation short. It was Red, big bowl in hand. 

Ricky blushed brightly and Gina couldn’t help but laugh, causing Red to look confused. “What’s up? I just wanted to make more popcorn.”

Gina hopped down from their spot on the counter and walked down the hall, shooting Ricky a pointed look before disappearing completely. Ricky merely blinked before turning to Red, biting his cheek as he took a step closer. 

“Red.” Ricky said. It sounded normal but for some reason, it made Red’s heart race. Maybe it was how Ricky was looking at him. Ricky plucked the bowl from his hand and placed it on the counter behind them, keeping his eyes on the boy in front of him. “I wanna try something.”

“Uh, okay..” Red replied, a bit uneasy but willing, of course. He trusted Ricky. He’d always trust Ricky. 

Ricky cupped Red’s cheeks and Red’s hands immediately flew to the other boy’s waist. His eyes wide and questioning. Ricky caressed his cheeks and that seemed to calm him enough to get him to close his eyes. Ricky took a deep breath and kissed him.

In the next room, Gina sprawled out along the couch, hugging a pillow to their chest while they went on their phone, waiting for the sound of footsteps so they could go to the kitchen without ruining Ricky’s little moment. 

The sound of footsteps coming up made them get up from the couch, it was probably Red—he had forgotten to actually make popcorn—and he must’ve come back up to do that. “Red!” Gina grinned, bouncing into the kitchen before freezing all together. 

It was, in fact, not Red but Nini.

Gina’s bright smile immediately contorted into a look of surprise and horror, their figure stuck in the doorway as Nini stared at them, unable to look away. “Found you.” Nini said with an awkward, forced laugh, a hint of her British accent slipping through.

“You were looking for me?” Gina asked, sucking in a breath when Nini merely nodded. “Why?”

“I wanted to talk about what happened, ya know, downstairs?”

“Mm.” Gina nodded, pursing their lips. “Okay, but make it quick.”

“Make what quick?”

“Aren’t you rejecting me?”

“What? No! I came up here because I owe you something.” Nini said, fiddling with the sleeve of her sweater with a lopsided grin. 

“You owe me something?”

Mini nodded with an affirming hum, stepping closer to Gina until their toes almost touched. “Close your eyes.”

Gina swore their heart stopped, freezing in place. Their eyes slowly fluttered closed and they clenched their hands into fists, trying to ignore their heart hammering in their chest. 

Nini slowly cupped Gina’s cheeks, caressing it gently when Gina’s breath hitched. “Hey, hey, it’s okay.” She reassured before leaning in, capturing Gina’s lips in a soft, chaste kiss. She pulled away after a second, her smile soft as Gina’s hands came up to rest on her waist. 

“Wow.”

“Wow?” Nini replies meekly. 

“Mhm. Wow.” Gina said, their eyes fluttering open. They pulled Nini close and kissed her again and again, relishing the way their heart flipped whenever their lips met. They finally pulled away, their hands finding Nini’s. “So uh,” Gina chuckled and looked away, unsure of what to say. 

“Wanna go back downstairs? I’m sure they’re waiting for us.” 

“What exactly is uh, ‘us’ if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Uh..” Nini blinked and bit her lip. “I dunno about you but I’d love to go on a date.”

“I’d love that.” Gina agreed, giving Nini’s hand a squeeze as they slowly made their way downstairs. 

As soon as their friends laid eyes on the pair holding hands, a chorus of ‘Finally!’ and ‘I knew it!’ rang out, making the pair laugh. 

“Let’s just keep playing, yeah?” Nini rolled her eyes and sat down, her and Ricky exchanging happy glances as they cuddled into the person next to them. She knew they’d all figure themselves out eventually.


End file.
